Scotland Yard forced to move £4m from crime-fighting to protect VIPs

Scotland Yard has been forced to put an extra £4 million into protecting VIPs including junior members of the royal family.

MPs heard how Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson raised the issue with Government "almost constantly" as he considered how best to use resources.

His deputy, Tim Godwin, admitted pressure on public funds had left senior officers moving money away from local crime-fighting operations to meet the bill for expensive, national responsibilities.

Sir Paul is involved in a fierce dispute with ministers over the estimated £50million a year cost of protecting 22 members of the royal family.

He has told Home Secretary Alan Johnson the Government should pay the full amount rather than the £30million it currently provides

Mr Godwin told the Commons home affairs committee: "The amount of money at the moment in terms of dedicated security posts is a small sum, but that could be used to provide police officers to police the streets. It is sometimes hard to identify what is the national bit and what is the London bit."

Deputy mayor for policing Kit Malthouse said the situation was set to get worse as budgets were squeezed when the Government cut back on spending.

He said Londoners were being short-changed but the Met had no choice because of the potential risks of reducing the service to VIPs, also including government ministers and visiting dignitaries.

"One of the things we try and highlight with Government is that they should appreciate the risks that are being handled and the risks they expose the country to with the decisions they make," he said.

"In the Metropolitan Police budget we have had a transfer of £4 million of extra money into protection and we have done that to maintain the service. Our view is this money should come from central Government."

Scotland Yard officers have expressed concern behind closed doors over the current bill for royalty protection.

The Standard revealed last year that a security review was under way over the cost of providing police protection for junior members of the royal family.

Round-the-clock protection for several royals, including Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, has come under increasing scrutiny as budgets are squeezed.

It comes just days after Sir Paul expressed concerns about the cost to the taxpayer of protecting B-list royals.